Quicksilver-ore-reducing apparatus.



PATBNTED Nov. s, 1903.

F. c. MEYER. QUIGKSILVER ORB REDUCING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 1903. U0 MODEL. 2 SHEBTSSHBET 1.

- PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

F; 'c. MEYER. QUIGKSILVER 01m REDUCING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 1903.

2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT Fries.

FREDERICK O. MEYER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

QUlCKSlLVER-ORE-REDUCING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,887, dated November 3-, 1903.

Application filed February '7, 1903. Serial No. 142,421. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK G. MEYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Quicksilver Ore- Reducing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to quicksilver-orereducing apparatus, and has for its object to produce apparatus of comparatively simple, cheap, and durable construction, which performs its work at a much smaller percentage of loss than any other apparatus for the same purpose of which I have knowledge.

A further object is to produce a furnace having steel or equivalent walls to prevent the escape of quicksilver and a lining of firebrick and asbestos for such walls to protect the metal from injury by contact with the sulfur fumes.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in appended claims, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- 7 Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the apparatus, taken on the line I I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line III III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line IV IV of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the hopper, taken on the dotted line V.

In the said drawings, 1 designates a furnace, the same being of any suitable form externally. The bottom of its chamber 2 slopes divergingly downward toward the front and rear, the first-named slope leading to grate 3, upon which coke, charcoal, or other fuel producing but little smoke is burned, the grate being charged through one or more door-controlled openings 4. in the front wall of the furnace, the ash-pit 5 below the grate having the usual door 6 to give access thereto. At one side communication with the front slope of the chamber-bottom is had through opening 7, a door 8 controlling access thereto. Through this opening a rake may be introduced to rake the ore-ashes from the slope through opening 7 and into pit 9,from whence they may be removed in any suitable manner. The top of thefurnace is equipped with a hopper 10, having a cross-bar 10, forming a journal for the stem of valve 10", said valve being of propeller type to cause it when turned to deliver ore to the forward slope of the combustion-chamber, said stem extending up through cover 10, having an air-tight connection with the top of the hopper. The upper endof' the stem is squared to receive a handle 10 whereby it may be readily turned. The cover is removable after the handle is removed, so that the hopper can be easily and quickly recharged with ore, and

in this connection it will be seen that the lower layer of ore in the hopper being preliminarily heated is therefore more readily transformed into sulfur or quicksilver fumes after its deposit upon the said forward slope and that the valve not only forms a bottom for the hopper, but also enables the attendant to drop ore on the front slope when desirable Without lifting the cover,and thereby admitting air to the hopper, this ore being spread out upon said slope in a uniform thickness by means of rakes introduced through the feed-door openings. The side Walls of the furnace or a portion of them converge rearwardly and form or communicate with an exit-opening 12 for the quicksilver and sulfur fumes and the products of combustion from the fuel.

The furnace in detail consists of an outer wall of masonry and a metallic shell or lining for its combustion-chamber, the bottom and side walls being lined with fire-brick, as at 13, while the top is lined, preferably, with asbestos, as at 14. The lining forms practically a box entirely open at its front end, and its walls may be secured tightly together in any approved manner. 15 designates a pipe of any suitable length and sloping downwardly from the furnace to a casing 16, with which it communicates, this casing containing a fan suitably driven and having a wide discharge -spout 17 to effect a corresponding distribution of quicksilver and sulfur fumes and the gases and what little smoke arises from the fuel. This spout discharges into a tank 18, as does'also'the tube 19, which conducts to the tank any quicksilver produced by condensation of quicksilver fumes in pipe 15, and said pipe is provided with one or more cap-controlled hand-hole openings to admit any suitable devices for forcing an oi)- struction out of the tube. Tank 18 is supported upon a suitable foundation, as at 20, and its bottom is substantially gutter-shaped and slopes downwardly toward its rear end for the purpose of conducting quicksilver to the valve-controlled discharge-tube 21. The tank is kept charged with water, upon or into which the fan-discharge takes place, said fan being for the purpose of creating by suction a draft, which carries with it the products of combustion and the fumes arising from the roasting ore, the contact of such fumes with the water producing almost instant condensation of the former and the resultant precipitation of quicksilver to the bottom of the tank, the sulfur and other foreign particles accumulating as a scum upon the surface of the water and being driven by the force of the discharge from the fan-casing toward the rear end of the tank. Superimposed with reference to the tank is a cupola 22, with its body portionhollow and archingover the tank from side to side and forming, in effect, the top and side portions of a water-jacket, against which contact of the fumes results in their being instantly precipitated to solid form, the lower edge of the cupola beingsubmerged in the water of the tank and resting upon posts 23 thereof to prevent the escape of quicksilver fumes. The front wall of the cupola has an opening 24 to receive the fanspout, the joint being made tight by a packing 25, to be kept damp, and therefore fireproof, by constant contact with the water, capillary attraction serving to keep that portion damp which is above the water-line. The rear end of the cupola is provided with a vent-pipe 26 for the gases and other light fuel products and with a flexible or swinging gate 27 to permit a rake to be introduced for the purpose of drawing the scum of sulfur and other foreign particles to the rear end of the tank beyond the cupola, from whence it can be easily removed.

The furnace acts to roast the ore until its temperature reaches approximately 662 Fahrenheit, when the quicksilver and sulfur is transformed into fumes, which are drawn by the snctional action of the fan into the cooling-chamber composed of tank 18 and cupola 22, this chamber acting to reduce the fumes below volatilization point, a temperature much higher than the boiling-point of Water, 212 Fahrenheit.

If desired, the furnace and cooling-chamber may be closely associated and the fan kept cool in an approved manner, it being obvious otherwise that the close association of the furnace and cooling-chamber would naturally result in the fan being raised to an injuriously high temperature.

As the functions of various parts have been explained, a recapitulation of the entire op veratlon 1s deemed unnecessary, it being clear that such quicksilver fumes as are not reduced to solid form by discharge upon the water of the tank will have further opportunities and ample time to be thus transformed before reaching the rear end of the cupola, when it at once drops to the bottom of the tank, its specific gravity being sufficiently great to carry itreadily through any scum which may have collected on the tankwater. The heat is regulated in a manner common to furnaces and by a variation in the speed of the fan.

Under the preliminary operation of this apparatus the fire-brick and asbestos lining of the steel box absorb a certain quantity of quicksilver, this absorption or saturation reducing the percentage of loss attendant on all subsequent operation of the apparatus.

From the above description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be apparent that I have produced a furnace possessing the advantages enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention and which can be operated economically and continuously, as the furnace can be charged with ore or fuel or relieved of the ashes of either without interrupting the operation.

Although the description relates solely to the reduction of quicksilver ores, it is to be understood that I contemplate the use of the apparatus for the treatment of other ores as well and that I claim the apparatus irrespective of its use.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a furnace for the reduction of ores, a water-tank having a discharge-pipe, a cupola having its lower edge submerged in the water of the tank and provided at its front end with an opening containing an absorbent packing in contact with the water of said tank, and at its rear end with a gate-controlled opening and a ventpipe, a fan-casing having a spout projecting into the cupola through the packed opening, a pipe connecting the furnace and said casing, and a driven fan in the latter to draw the ore fumes and products of combustion from the furnace and discharge them through the said spout onto the water in the tank.

2. An ore-reducing apparatus, comprising a furnace, a cooling-chamber, a fan-casing having its spout projecting into the coolingchamber, a driven fan in said casing, a pipe connecting the fan-casing with the furnace, and a tube communicating at its opposite ends with said pipe and with said coolingchamber and sloping downwardly from the former to the latter.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a furnace having its combustionchamber tapering rearwardly and having its bottom composed of two slopes which diverge downwardly to the front and rear, a grate at the lower end of the forward slope, and an exit-opening at the lower end of the rear slope,

and a metallic box snugly fitting in said chamber, and having its bottom and side walls lined with firebrick, and its top lined with asbestos and provided with a valve-controlled feed-hopper vertically over the forward slope of the chamber.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a furnace having its combustionchamber tapering rearwardly and having its bottom composed of two slopes which diverge downwardly to the front and rear, a grate at the lower end of the forward slope, and an exit-opening at the lower end of rear slope, a metallic box snugly fitting in said chamber, 

